Of Three
by Scyithe
Summary: When it was thought as two, it was actually three. Three siblings. Three destinies. Three dragons. When Azorn, a regular thief living in Urû’baen, enters the castle in an attempt to escape some trouble, she stumbles upon more than she ever expected...
1. Stage I: Captured Thief

I'll admit right now that this is my first ever attempt at an Eragon fan fiction. Therefore, if I don't get the characters right, or get some things from the ancient language wrong, don't flame me for that. I'll accept constructive criticism, but flames are some things that are not needed. If you choose to flame this story anyone, then I'll give you nothing but amusement in return. Be warned. Now, enjoy!

* * *

**Step I: Captured Thief**

"_Take care of him, please!"_

Thrash.

_"Where are you going?"_

Kick.

"…_Goodbye."_

Flail. Repeat.

_"But what about—"_

Thrash.

"_She will live. Farewell, dear brother."_

Kick.

_"No—! Wait! WAIT—"_

Flail.

_"We will probably never meet again…"_

This time, the cycle did not repeat.

This time, her eyelids, which were stubbornly squeezed together tightly, fluttered open to reveal the panicked glint in her dark eyes. Her body snapped up into a sitting position as her wary orbs darted around to check, almost timidly, if she was under attack. Her fears proved groundless. There was no one in the tiny room but herself.

A deep sigh of relief was exhaled.

It was _just _a _dream_. Nothing else.

If this was the case, why was she always so frightened whenever she awakened nowadays? Before, her mind was plagued with not nightmares of that woman's voice, conversing with that other person's, but thoughts of more ways to obtain food and other essential items that one needed to live.

The nightmares always began with a blur of the metal of a weapon. Then, clearer than anything else, she would see blood rain down upon everything until she couldn't see straight. Blood. Just blood. Nothing else. Then, when she would begin to believe that she would only see blood for the rest of her life, a strange, beryl rock would appear, its surface smooth and unblemished with no traces of anything but flawlessness.

Sometimes, it infuriated her. Other times, it frightened her. Most of the time, it confused her.

What did it _mean_?

Azorn reached a slender hand up to her temples, frowning as she traced imaginary circles on it to calm herself. While she used to always have peaceful sleep, other than dreams about how she was going to survive the next day of her life in Urû'baen, now, she always woke up sprawled out on the ground of the room in a position that suggested she had been thrashing, flailing, and kicking. She shook her head.

_There's no time to think about this kind of stuff,_ she assured herself adamantly, refusing to ponder about the nightmares any further. _I can't think about the nightmares._

Tentatively, she cautiously stood from the ground and smoothed out her wrinkled apparel, which was cloaked in grime and dirt from the lack of wash and change. Ever since she had been young, she had been a thief that struggled to live. But then again, being a thief changed the way you thought about things, made your senses sharper, taught you how to deal with things in hardships…

Which was why she was who she was now.

Her disheveled, mid-back length hair was mostly dirtied because of the fact she had lived on the streets, stealing all the time. Her skin lingered between pale and slightly tanned from both running through the bright streets and hiding out in dark places. Her figure was slender and lean from years of running for hours straight. She was fairly small for her age, which was fifteen, and she wasn't proud or modest about it. Still, Azorn liked the fact that she was small. It increased her agility and made it easier to conceal herself from angered guards or enraged salespeople.

In a way, most of her traits worked to her advantage.

_But now,_ she thought solemnly, _it's time to go out again. I wonder if I can make it off with some more fruit this time?_

Shrugging off her worries, Azorn strode nimbly towards the door of the small room and opened the door just a crack open and peered out. She blinked, easily adjusting the darkness of the dawn that lied just beyond the door of the shack and stepped out, stretching slowly. That shack was the perfect hiding place. It was too small to be noticed, but big enough to not allow wandering people to enter for fear that someone actually lived in it. 

Her lips quirked in an uneasy smile as a grim thought crossed her restless mind.

_I have a bad feeling about what's going to happen today…_

* * *

Elsewhere, the brown-haired male stood, leaning against the wall almost lazily as he barely watched the guard before him rant about something.

To sum it up, all he heard was, "This blah, blah, blah stop blah, blah thief blah, blah steal blah, blah, blah and blah, blah, blah, blah just blah, blah, blah, blah, blah COMPLAINING!" The guard rounded on the male, eyes narrowed. "King Galbatorix has ordered her to be captured."

He lazily looked at the guard. "…What?"

"YOU WEREN'T LISTENING?"

"Shut up," he snapped, disgruntled, and turned to leave. "Look, I don't care about this. Galbatorix can just _die_."

The guard visibly flinched. "But sir, he has _ordered_ that she—"

"Look, I heard!" he retorted irritably, turning to leave. His red sword gleamed threateningly from its position on his belt. "If you don't leave me alone, I'll just kill you now and leave Galbatorix to do _whatever_. I don't care."

Suddenly, yells began to sound nearby along with shrieks and the shuffling of movement and clanging of swords.

Now incredibly pissed, the male swept his heel and turned, leaving a stunned guard in his wake, who hastily hurried away afterwards.

"How much could a _thief_ do?" he snarled to no one in particular, unsheathing his sword.

* * *

Azorn, to sum it up, was in _deep_ trouble.

She chuckled nervously under her breath and cursed as an armored soldier turned the corner and spotted her. "There she is!"

Azorn immediately fled.

The situation had started out innocently enough. Okay, so she was caught by the owner of the stand she had been stealing from and ran. She had been stupid enough to run for her life to an alleyway and escape into a building. But it turned out that she had entered the palace.

How _pathetic_ of her!

She mentally cussed and continued to run, a satchel of fruits and other foods clutched tightly in her slim fingers. After what felt like an eternity, she had slammed into something and stumbled backwards, biting her lip her enough to draw blood. She wiped her mouth and looked up to glare and preferably knock out the person she had slammed into…

…Who just happened to have a rather dangerous looking sword drawn and held out so its tip pointed at her neck.

Her brown eyes narrowed at the male that stood before her.

"…So you're the thief that they've been complaining about?" he asked with a slight hint of amusement. "Pathetic. I don't see how they can't even capture a thief like you."

Azorn gazed at him mockingly. "Yeah. Says the idiot who _over_estimated his _own_ abilities and _under_estimated his _enemy's_!" She pulled back and leapt over him before proceeding to flee.

Something in her gut told her that he was going to catch her sooner or later, for he was probably some incredibly trained assassin or something serving the king, but for now, she decided to pay no heed to that and focus on escaping. She had caused a ruckus in the castle, so now, she had to end it.

What a pain.

Azorn was about to rush up a flight of stairs when a shouted cry behind her forced her to freeze.

"Letta!"

Azorn collapsed to the ground, as though obscured ropes bound her in place. She twitched, trembled, and struggled, but she couldn't get free.

The next thing she knew, darkness came and she felt herself lose consciousness.

But why did she feel as though she _knew_ the stranger that had frozen her? Something… told her that there was more than what met the eye.


	2. Stage II: In the Castle

My thanks go to both TheAngelFiction and alsdssg for reviewing. Thank you very much; it was highly appreciated.

Just a note though, there was a typo in the first chapter. Where it said, _"Then, when she would begin to believe that she would only see blood for the rest of her life, a strange, silvery rock would appear, its surface smooth and unblemished with no traces of anything but flawlessness,"_ instead of **SILVERY**, it should have been **BERYL.** I will be fixing the error, but to those of you who have already read the first chapter (which is probably most of you since why else would you be at this chapter), just remember that.

I do not own Eragon, Eldest, or any other book in the series.

Now, onwards to the new chapter!

* * *

**Stage II: In the Castle**

Feel was the first of the five senses to be regained by her.

Azorn felt her heart pump painfully against her chest. It felt like her body was being burned to crisps, licked and smoldered by flames until she was nothing but ashes. The cement ground felt slimy and disgusting against her skinny legs. The air seemed to burn her throat as she breathed.

Her other senses slowly came back, except for her vision.

_Am I blind now?_ she wondered in panic. _Did they make me blind before they captured me so I wouldn't be able to escape?_

But then again, if that was the case, then why did she _just_ happen to see a pair of eyes staring straight into hers?

Azorn felt her eyes widen at the sight and clamped her cold hand against her mouth to stifle her scream before it escaped her parted lips. The cry died harmlessly in her throat.

_At least there's one thing to be happy about_, the brunette thought bitterly, _I'm not blind._

The pair of eyes watched her with an emotion akin to amusement, but she saw that hidden in their depths was sorrow and melancholy.

Azorn licked her suddenly dry lips to keep them moist and slowly backed up until she felt cold bars of the cell press against her back.

How fortunate of her. They decided to put her in a cell.

A soft noise—a chuckle, perhaps?—sounded in the darkness. Azorn felt herself cringe fearfully and pull her legs against herself and wrap her arms around them.

_Do you fear me, little one?_

She blinked and shook her head. _I'm not going crazy, I'm not! Now I'm hearing foreign voices in my head!_

Another rumbling chuckle sounded in the dark. _I never did say you were._

"…Whose there?" Azorn asked meekly.

A loud breath—probably coming from whatever was talking to her—was exhaled. A jet of flame appeared, catching onto an object that remained concealed from her. Then, light flooded through the room. The creature must have exhaled fire onto a candle.

_Now can you see me?_

She gazed, awe overpowering her fear, at what loomed before her. It was a black dragon of immense proportions. "…A dragon…" she murmured, still staring. "…Are you…?"

_Yes, I am called Shruikan,_ the dragon replied, lowering his mighty head so that he was level with Azorn. _You are?_

"…I'm… Azorn," she replied hesitantly,

Shruikan nodded his powerful head knowingly. _So it is true. Tell me, do you know why you are here?_

Azorn shook her head. "No, I don't," the fourteen-year old admitted. Strangely, she found that she liked Shruikan. Even though the stories she heard about him told her that he was a terrible dragon that killed many, she was still able to bring herself to trusting him.

_King Galbatorix wants you for more than just the reason that you are a thief,_ Shruikan replied dryly.

"Why would he want me for more than that? I'm no one special," answered Azorn, blinking in confusion. "Why are you here anyway?"

Shruikan chuckled again, but his laughter seemed empty. _He has, to put it this way, assigned me to guard you, _the black dragon responded, before relaxing his body into sitting on the cold floor.

"I probably couldn't escape anyway," rebuked Azorn in reaction.

_Even so, this is where I stay when Galbatorix does not have any use for me._

Azorn jumped to her feet almost instantly. "_What?_ He's treating you like an _object!_" She had hated the man before because of his cruel deeds, but now, she hated him more than ever.

_I cannot object to his commands,_ Shruikan answered solemnly.

Azorn strode over to him, uncertainly petting his shimmering, black scales to comfort him. "…I'm sorry to hear that."

Silence ensued.

The girl blinked and looked up at Shruikan, who had settled and closed his eyes. She sensed a deep sense of contentment emitting from the dragon. A faint smile tugged at her lips. _Maybe I do have a soft side, _she thought. She had always held an inner affection for most animals and creatures, especially for dragons. Azorn had always been quiet and polite, but when she found someone she liked, she could turn into a loud, but playful person.

She closed her eyes and let sleep sweep her away.

* * *

A strange noise aroused her from her slumber. Azorn blinked and turned to look at Shruikan, but she saw that he was no longer there. She was leaning against the wall. Now that sunlight streamed from a nearby barred window, she saw how large the cell truly was. It was _gargantuan_. No wonder Shruikan had been able to fit. 

The rapping noise sounded again.

Azorn stood and warily strode to the front of the cell, where she was greeted by the sight of the male that had knocked her out. "You!" she snarled, jumping backwards instantly.

"You're coming with me," he countered in a tone just as cold. "Galbatorix wants to see you."

"…Who are you first?"

He stared at her. "…Murtagh. Now hurry up."

Azorn glared at him and cautiously watched as he unlocked the cell and briskly strode away.

She followed.

* * *

"Go in," said Murtagh, gesturing towards the door. Azorn swallowed and stared back at him before obediently following his directions. She slowly opened the door and stepped inside the room. The door slammed shut behind her. 

That wasn't good.

She looked up and trembled as she stared into the gaze of Galbatorix, still shaking in fear.

"Come closer, Azorn."

Azorn knew something was up, and was even more scared since he knew her name perfectly, but obeyed like a well-trained dog following her master's orders.

Galbatorix slid over to her and reached his fingers under her chin, forcing her to look into his eyes. He grinned, though it was more unpleasant than pleasant. "Just like you to look like _her_."

Azorn did not dare speak, even though her mind was screaming, _Who in the world is _her?

"Tell me, do you know why you are here?"

"…No, sir," she murmured almost inaudibly.

"I see. So the thief has manners. Very good," answered Galbatorix. His grin did not leave his face, but he withdrew his hand. "Do you know what your true name is?"

"True name?" she echoed in confusion. All her life, she had known herself as Azorn. That was her _name_. But what was her _true_ name? "I don't know, Your Majesty."

Galbatorix frowned, and Azorn bit her lip hard enough to draw a small bead of blood. She was _that_ terrified of the man.

"Very well," the king responded. Azorn's head snapped up in confusion. That was all?

"You are to stay in the castle for the time being," he said, turning around as he strode to a small box perched upon a desk. He stroked its top almost lovingly. "I will have something to show you tomorrow. Murtagh will escort you to your room. You are dismissed."

Confused, frightened, and curious, Azorn turned her heel and quickly left the room, closing the door behind her swiftly and leaning against it, breathing heavily as though she had just run a marathon. Murtagh stood there.

"What did he speak to you about?"

"Why do you want to know?" she shot back at him.

"Merely my curiosity," he replied in response. "I'll take you to your room."

Azorn found that Murtagh, like Shruikan, wasn't as cruel as she had thought. She found it easy to bestow the discussion she had had with Galbatorix to him, and all he had done was listen quietly, but intently as they walked.

"Do _you_ know what he would want with me?" she asked him as they scaled a staircase.

"…No," answered Murtagh. They continued up the staircase without another word.

When they reached what was supposedly her "new room", she entered and promptly gaped in awe. The walls and floors were decorated in royal wallpaper and carpeting, complete with beautiful furnishing. All in all…

It was a _very_ green room.

"Yet there's poverty everywhere while the king basks in glory and splendor," she commented darkly to herself, almost in a hiss. She turned to Murtagh. "What am I supposed to do now?"

Murtagh shot her a look that indicated amusement. "You can do whatever you like, I suppose. Just as long as you don't leave the room." He was about to leave when she grabbed his hand and held it, palm up, so she could look at it.

"You're a _Rider_ serving under Galbatorix?" she hissed with sudden vehemence. Murtagh could only stare at her in reaction. The gedwëy ignasia shone brightly from his palm. Azorn must have spotted it while he turned, but he was sure he had concealed it well until now. "_Why_ are you doing this?"

"I never asked for it!" he spat suddenly, jerking his hand away from her grip and settling with glowering fiercely at the small girl.

The fourteen-year old shrunk back and bowed her head, sensing the emotion that he held in his voice. "…Sorry. But, that means you have a dragon, right?" she asked eagerly.

"Yeah…" he answered unsurely. "…Why?"

"If you take me to see your dragon," she offered, "then I'll repay you a favor someday."

Murtagh thought about it for a moment before grinning for the first time since she had seen him. "Deal. But…" He paused, a smirked. "I'm leaving you in here for a few hours. I have to be somewhere."

Azorn opened her mouth to protest, but he left and locked the door so she couldn't escape. Huffing, the brunette turned around and crossed her arms like a child. "I'm being so infantile," she remarked to herself with a frown. "What in the _world _would cause that?"

Still, she barely had a childhood when she was younger. She grew up faster than she expected. In her childhood, she had kept herself as innocent as possible so it would be easy to fool people and steal. Nevertheless, it was successful. Even though she still had that same innocent spark in her eyes, she didn't do trick people into giving her things anymore. She had decided to use stealth and agility to actually steal from people.

Shaking her head, Azorn proceeded to another door that stood in the room in hopes of exploring and utilizing the bathroom, if it was even the bathroom.

* * *

I know that there might be confusion because of _why_ she and Murtagh seem to get friendly so easily, but I remind you that she feels a strange _connection_ to him that tells her that it's okay to trust him. To her, it's like she _knows_ him. As for Murtagh, in return, he's nice to her. It's kind of like an understanding between them; a minor form of friendship. Remember, this is _NOT_ a romance story at all, so don't expect _any_ pairings. Especially not ones that have Azorn in them. 

Anyway, thanks for reading the chapter. Feel free to review.


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